Helder Guimarães

SLEIGHT-OF-HAND MAGICIAN

TRICKSTER / DECEIVER

STORYTELLER

NEWS

OCEAN'S 8

In 2016 / 2017, Helder consulted on Ocean's 8, personally training Oscar-winning actresses Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett for their roles in the movie. Using his knowledge of con artists, hustlers and other scammers, Helder was responsible for recreating for the camera the feeling of a real heist as well as annotations on parts of the script. See the trailer here.

INVISIBLE TANGO AT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

In 2019, Helder will be opening a new solo show at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Entitled Invisible Tango, this show is set to be directed by Hollywood legendary producer, director and magic lover Frank Marshall, responsible for many blockbuster hits like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Back to the Future Trilogy, The Six Sense and Jurassic Park. More info here.

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PAST SHOWS

NOTHING TO HIDE

In 2012, Helder Guimaraes premiered his show Nothing To Hide at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Neil Patrick Harris. The show was critically acclaimed and ended up Off-Broadway, at the Signature Theater, playing a sold-out limited run of four months.

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“Unseen and unfathomable artistry is behind each feat.” –The New York Times "Critic's Choice"

“Marvelous! Amazing! Gasp again and again!” –Variety

“Remarkable… refreshing… mind-boggling!” –Backstage

BORROWED TIME

In the beginning of 2016, Helder Guimarães debuted a limited engagement magic experience. Merging art, theater and Helder’s sleight-of-hand virtuosity in a secret location, Borrowed Time received acclaimed reviews by critics and audience members alike, running for four sold-out months purely on word of mouth.

“A Mind-Blowing Magic Show! The best magical performance you might ever see in LA.” –LA Weekly

VERSO

In September 2016, Helder Guimarães debuted Verso, a one-man Off-Broadway show. Directed by Rodrigo Santos, Verso merged theater, magic and mind feats to create an impossible theatrical experience that was critically acclaimed by audiences who gave it a standing ovation every single night.

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“A Master of Illusions!” –The New York Times

“Ace in the Hole!” –Huffington Post

“Be baffled by seemingly miraculous feats!” –Broadway World

DONE BY MIRRORS

Along with Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar was a revolutionary Argentinian novelist, short story writer, and essayist and is considered one of the founders of the Latin American Boom in literature. Cortázar poems are remarkable by their simplicity but also by the use of images that can convey states of mind hard to be deciphered by simple words.

Magic exists in the moment. It’s not a physical thing, not a story that can be told. It is only an experience that can be lived in the same space at the same time. That is why it is impossible to capture the moment, as it doesn’t exist. You can’t have a photograph that represents a moment of magic. But you can have photography that instead of capturing moments, captures ideas.

As a performer, I like to constantly study and learn from other areas to have a vast array of tools I can use depending on the project I am pursuing. My degree in Theater Studies was a fantastic first step of a never-ending process in learning about performance and how to improve it. And strangely enough, in my readings on other matters, quite often I find passages about performing arts as examples to illustrate certain ideas.

One of the most interesting personalities of the 20th century, Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine writer of short stories, essayist and poet. He was an important personality in Spanish literature, and his best-known works are compilations of short stories where dreams, labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, fictional writers and philosophy are used as springboards to an imaginary world.

One of the most famous Belgian singers, Jacques Brel, was also a songwriter, actor and director who composed and performed initially in Belgium, but later also in France where he achieved world fame. Considered a master of the modern chanson, he was an outspoken character that has influenced many popular artists like David Bowie, Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Frank Sinatra. Although in many of his interviews he clearly says he is not a philosopher, there is a lot of wisdom in some of his thinking. I am particularly a fan of how he sees art, artists and talent. Take a look and see if you agree or not.

In the quest to find unique things, I often wonder what is really unique in performers, creators and artists I admire. Is it the fact that they are true to themselves and their own beliefs? Is it because they make an effort to stand out and be different on purpose? Is it more important to be original, unique or different?

Memory is a key component of my work, as a secret tool and also a deceptive mechanism. Interested in always understanding and better using it in my own life but also in my work, I have come across The Memory Illusion by Julia Shaw.

Just like the majority of situations in life, money can also be seen as an illusion. How much we make, hoe much we spend and how we really value things is a interesting subject with an infinity scope. In exploring this for a different project, I found Dan Ariely am Jeff Kreisler’s Dollars and Sense an extremely insightful view on this matter.

There is a pleasure of learning something knew, especially if that knowledge is of interest. In magic, nevertheless, for the audience to appreciate the full scope of what the artist is trying to accomplish, the magician should keep them on the unknown side. This dichotomy is interesting and something I also like to think about and explore. The documentary Richard Feynman: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out explores ideas of how knowledge is or can be interesting for students. Mr. Feynman himself explains in this short excerpt how he views teaching and what his approach (or lack thereof) is. What he says about teaching is exactly what I believe about performance and why an artistic work can’t (and shouldn’t) please all people. This is an interesting watch, and his books are a very interesting read.

I always find myself very interested in things that are believed to be true until they are proven otherwise. One of the best known stories among those is the famous Galileo Galilei episode with the Earth revolving around the Sun.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

Here is a small teaser of Helder's work. It was the feature promo for his last Off-Broadway show in NY, Verso. It blends sleight-of-hand, storytelling and ideas into one unique deception.

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AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS

Over the last 15 years, Helder Guimarães has received many international accolades. He received top honors from both the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, as well as being proclaimed World Champion of Magic by FISM, the International Federation of Magic Societies. The New York Times called him "a master of illusions,"TED Talks says he "slips and slides cards on a table, wowing you with invisible technique, unorthodox psychology and fresh humor," and Magic Magazine named him “one of the brightest thinkers and performers of his generation.” But his favorite commendations may be from the Los Angeles Times review of Borrowed Time, saying "he seems remarkably sincere and trustworthy for a man committed to deception," and from the New York Times review of Verso, where the reviewer acknowledges his reputation for exquisite technique: "his hands have such a liquid grace that they appear to contain no bones."

Helder is simply the best close up, sleight-of-hand magician I’ve ever seen.